Jump to content

 

My review of Star Ocean: The Last Hope


Recommended Posts

Star Ocean has come a long way, beginning its release on July 19th, 1996 in Japan, the game was a hit. Sadly, the first game was never able to make it's appearance in North America, so American Gamers had to make their first judgement of the series with "Star Ocean: The Second Story" which was released on the Playstation Game console on July 30th, 1998. Following the Playstation came the Game Boy Color's Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, which was a short game, but served it's purpose to expand the storyline, and finally, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time made its way to shelves on August 31st, 2004 on the Playstation 2. American Gamers were happy on October 21st, 2008, when a remake to the first game, "Star Ocean: First Departure" released on the playstation portable, with a remake to the Playstation version, entitled "Star Ocean: Second Evolution" on January 20th, 2009.

 

For a while, fans of the series were worried about whether or not they would see another Star Ocean game released. There were only rumors for many years, until about April of 2008, Star Ocean: The Last Hope was announced. Gamers were excited, and many thought it was a continuation. Yet, many were even more excited to find out that the game was a prequel to the series. The game released on February 24th 2009, and many of the hardcore fans of the series, began to sink their teeth into the new adventure.

 

Star Ocean starts out a few centuries before the first Star Ocean (SNES) in S.D. 0010, The first SRF mission into space has begun. You play the role of Edge Maverick, supported by his childhood companion Reimi Saionji. The SRF (Space Reconnaissance Force) is sending 4 of its ships out into the deep ends of space to explore the many planets in the star ocean. Of course, things go wrong, and worse comes to worst, you're stranded on a planet with the need to survive.....but, will you?

 

Star Ocean's Storyline is one of the best of the entire series. It comes in first, with Till the End of Time's storyline following short behind. For the first hour or two (depending how fast or slow you go with the storyline), you will find it a bit boring, but after that time withers away, you will find yourself beginning to find as much interest in the story as you can. The storyline comes included with twists and turns you never saw coming.

 

The three discs included in the game include a large amount of features for the game. Not only do you get the excellent storyline, but you get 50 achievements, worth 1000 gamerscore, two bonus dungeons, a colliseum, quests, shop missions, weapon, monster, spacecraft, collection lists, and a whole lot more for the $60.00 you are dishing out for the game.

 

The game comes included with four difficulty levels. Earth is the easiest, followed by Galaxy, Universe, and chaos, which is the hardest. If you are new to the series, you should still consider playing on the galaxy difficulty your first play. I made the mistake of playing earth, even as a veteran Star Ocean player, and now I regret it, as its almost comparable to Earth's difficulty. The game's difficulty gets even more challenging with the bonus dungeons, but the game developers still offer sythesizing weaponry to add stat and battle bonuses, and now include a bonus board, in which doing certain things during battle, can earn you more experience, more fol (the money), healing after battle, etc. Just be careful to not let the enemy get a critical hit during battle or it will break and you will need to earn it all over again.

 

The sound is the only problem I had with the game. The voice acting is the best, but the ending battle voice sayings get old, as each character has about 2 or 3, not including the voices for when you gain a level. Other than that, you will find each characters voice unique in it's own way. At first they might seem bad, but in the middle of the first disc, it improves much.

 

The learning curve of Star Ocean: The Last hope, is much easier than it was in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the Tutorials explain a lot more, and it's a little easier to learn each control. You will probably find yourself accessing the options menu your first time playing though, as the left and right of the camera is inverted, but includes an option to switch it to it's original feel.

 

I definitely insist that you buy this game if you want to take some time out of your life, and are frustrated with buying games every week or so. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is guaranteed to take at least 2, maybe even 3 months of your life away.

 

10/10

(Tell me what you think!) Edited by Judivarious
Link to comment
Share on other sites

love the review! not too shabby at all!

 

I agree!! OMG!!! Star Ocean... Pwns!!!!! w00t!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I would say it's the best 360 RPG right now. It`s engrossing, enjoyable & it`s a RPG addict`s wet dream! I bet a lot of ppl will retire to their dungeon for weeks & weeks, trying to get every trophy, a beard on your face, smelling like a homeless man`s scrotum, & wearing the same coffee & food stained shirt you had on last week. But who cares what you look or smell like cuz you`ve got the most 1137 RPG in the universe!!!

 

it`s not without some flaws tho I`ll give it a 8/10.. here`s where it lost points with me:

 

-it would of been better to have all original monsters instead of making the tougher monsters later on in the game the exact same just a different colour.

-I would of liked to scroll the map somehow.

-As for the mini game `the Bunny races` I find it extremely dumb & boring, I would of perfered some sort of card game or something.

-some of the voice acting :rolleyes: & no jap voice option.

-The shops diddn`t give enough detailed info on the equipment

-I diddn`t like how the rings had to be charged, & having 1 charge... that was annoying, I dont wanna run all the way back to town between every chest.

-Having to swap discs all the time at the end of the main story.

-the item creation & quests should of had a checkmark after you complete one, oh well, the next playthrough i`ll have to use a manual checklist for chests, quests, & items.

 

other than that it`s perfect! w00000000t!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm considering buying this game. I've never really owned that many RPG's, but i was a huge fan of Final Fantasy X for the PS2. im currently loving Final Fantasy: Crisis Core for the PSP. So im hesitant on droppin 60 dollars to play this game, I can't rent it because no rental store has it yet >.< and theres no demo of the game on the marketplace =O but im considering just taking the plunge.

 

One quick question though, Why did you say you recommend playing on galaxy ur first play through? thats the 3rd hardest, next to chaos! Also, does this game have good replay value? i hate games that once u beat it you never ever play it again -_-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm considering buying this game. I've never really owned that many RPG's, but i was a huge fan of Final Fantasy X for the PS2. im currently loving Final Fantasy: Crisis Core for the PSP. So im hesitant on droppin 60 dollars to play this game, I can't rent it because no rental store has it yet >.< and theres no demo of the game on the marketplace =O but im considering just taking the plunge.

 

One quick question though, Why did you say you recommend playing on galaxy ur first play through? thats the 3rd hardest, next to chaos! Also, does this game have good replay value? i hate games that once u beat it you never ever play it again -_-

 

Actually, Galaxy is the second difficulty....

 

This is the order of the difficulties:

 

Earth (easiest)

Galaxy (Normal)

Universe (Hard)

Chaos (Expert)

 

This game does have good replay value, and if you are like me, and you rushed through most the game on your first playthrough, you are destined to complete another play through of the game to get what you missed to complete the game......(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly good review, secondly I havent bought the game yet(waiting for price drop), but was a huge fan of the battle system in star ocean till the end of time. Is the battle system the same as that one?

 

Chances are you might be waiting a few months at least

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
  • Create New...